1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of brassieres, in particular brassieres containing concealed pockets for storing cell phones and other objects.
2. Description of Related Art
Cell phones, personal listening devices, and other mobile electronic devices have become popular in recent years. Many women carry these items in their brassieres (“bras”) for convenience, as well as other objects such as money, keys, credit cards, or other objects that women may wish to keep concealed (“concealed objects”). However, bras and related products are generally not designed to carry such objects securely and comfortably. Pockets have been proposed for use within bras, but the placement of pockets and pocket structure have generally resulted in pockets that allow many objects to be seen due to the bulges or outlines created. Prior related art includes brassieres with a central pocket located between the cups, or pockets sewn into the front of the cups. These designs, however, cause the objects stored in the brassiere to become visible under clothing, especially larger items such as electronics. In addition, the central pocket causes the definition of each individual breast to be lost. Pockets covering much of the interior surface of the cups have also been proposed as means for receiving pads or prosthetics, but these are generally not designed for concealing, securing, and permitting convenient retrieval of various personal objects such as coins, keys, or cell phones. In general, the position, size, angle and configuration of previously proposed pockets may not be optimally designed to secure various concealed objects, and may not provide a suitable aesthetic appearance with pockets that are adapted to conceal bulk by their position, angle and construction. In particular, prior proposed bra pockets generally appear to lack have the ability, when containing concealed objects, to compress the breast tissue at a portion of the breast that achieves the effect of a smooth contour and minimal bulk.
Further, women who participate in athletic, work, childcare, walking, sports, errands or other activities may also desire the ability to listen to music devices without having to carry a purse or additional device to secure the music player to the wearer. In this situation, it is desirable to have a discrete storage area that will properly secure the music devices and/or other concealed objects, while allowing for a full range of movement for the wearer, and also allowing for convenient attachment of the object to headphones or other objects away from the bra. Women may also desire to maintain an aesthetic appearance that minimizes bulk, and retains a smooth breast contour and the appearance of clothing over the cellular phones, personal listening devices, lipstick and other cosmetics, medications and medical devices, multiple papers or dollar bills or a combination or plurality of the foregoing concealed objects.
Previous attempts have also been made to associate bras with portable medical devices such as diabetes pumps by connecting them bra straps or elsewhere, but these suffer from several drawbacks such as not being fully discrete and being difficult to access conveniently.
Thus, there is a need for a bra or related article of apparel with one or more pockets designed to hold cellular phones, personal listening devices, cosmetics, valuable items, medical objects, supplies, and other concealed objects securely so that they do not become lost or damaged. There is also a need for a bra or related article of apparel with one or more pockets that does not allow others to readily detect the presence of concealed objects in the pockets, or that does not create a bulky appearance to the breasts or clothing.